Equality Now is a worldwide human rights organisation dedicated to securing the legal and systemic change needed to end discrimination against all women and girls, everywhere in the world. Since its inception in 1992, it has played a role in reforming 120 discriminatory laws globally, positively impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of women and girls, their communities and nations, both now and for generations to come. Working with partners at national, regional and global levels, Equality Now draws on deep legal expertise and a diverse range of social, political and cultural perspectives to continue to lead the way in steering, shaping and driving the change needed to achieve enduring gender equality, to the benefit of all.
Donate to this charity
Equality Now was founded in 1992 by a group of feminists who recognized that sex discriminatory laws were a fundamental impediment to gender equality. Our founders were determined to address the systemic roots of misogyny so that every woman and girl could live safe, fearless, and free. Over the past three decades, Equality Now has remained true to our initial commitment to eradicate sexist laws while simultaneously scaling up our organization to meet the needs of an ever-evolving women’s rights movement. We grew from a scrappy team of three lawyers in New York City to a team of over 50, with legal experts as well as development, communications, and administrative professionals located all over the world.
Our mission is to achieve legal and systemic change that addresses violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world. We envision a world where the law is used to promote equality rather than codify misogyny, where constitutions respect human rights rather than embed discrimination, and where the criminal justice system arbitrates with integrity rather than perpetuates harmful gender and racial stereotypes.
Our work has massive impacts, benefiting not only women and girls today, but future generations. In 2024, we contributed to 15 major legal and policy changes across four continents, benefiting over 52 million women and girls. Our impact was felt around the world, including in:
- The Gambia, where we helped uphold a ban against female genital mutilation.
- Kyrgyzstan, where we brought visibility to the fact that women with disabilities are far more likely to experience sexual violence and face greater barriers to accessing justice, and we drafted a manual for legal aid lawyers, investigators, prosecutors, and judges.
- Colombia, where a law was passed to set the minimum age of marriage to 18 without exception.
- South Asia with the launch of a new coalition to address sexual violence against women and girls living in the region.